CM Dhami Expands Cabinet, 5 Take Oath
Uttarakhand Cabinet reaches full strength of 12 with new inductions
GG News Bureau
Dehradun, 20th March: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday expanded his Cabinet, inducting five new ministers and taking the total strength to its constitutional limit of 12.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at Lok Bhavan, where Madan Kaushik (Haridwar), Khajan Dass (Rajpur Road), Bharat Singh Chaudhary (Rudraprayag), Ram Singh Kaira (Bhimtal), and Pradip Batra (Roorkee) took oath as Cabinet ministers.
Congratulating the newly inducted ministers, Dhami said they bring extensive political and social experience and will play a key role in advancing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a “Viksit Bharat”.
“All of them have been working for a long time in public life. Together, we will contribute to fulfilling the vision of a developed India,” the Chief Minister said.
Among the new entrants, Madan Kaushik is a senior BJP leader and former state president who has won five consecutive Assembly elections from Haridwar since 2002. Khajan Dass retained the Rajpur Road seat in 2022, while Bharat Singh Chaudhary and Ram Singh Kaira have held their constituencies since 2017.
Pradip Batra, a three-time MLA from Roorkee, secured a hat-trick of victories in 2022, having first won in 2012 and later joined the BJP.
The expansion comes after a prolonged period of speculation. The Cabinet strength had reduced following the death of minister Chandan Ramdas in 2023 and the resignation of Prem Chand Agarwal last year.
With the latest induction, the Cabinet now includes Satpal Maharaj, Ganesh Joshi, Dhan Singh Rawat, Subodh Uniyal, Rekha Arya and Saurabh Bahuguna, along with the Chief Minister.
The move is seen as an effort to strengthen governance and balance political representation ahead of key administrative priorities in the state.
